To contents page REGIONAL POTTERY ZONES

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1 To contents page REGIONAL POTTERY ZONES The distribution area of grog-tempered pottery as a whole (Map l) can be subdivided into several regions, numbered 1 to 9 on the map. These divisions are based on (i) the distribution of local fabrics other than grog which are used for forms normally grog-tempered (Map 2); and (ii) the presence of strong regional stylistic preferences and fashions, made in grog as well as the local fabrics. These 'pottery zones' often overlap at their interfaces, but are each well defined. Note that the differences in form are essentially those of detail; there are few forms that are not represented, at least sparsely and with local variations, over most of the whole area, thus reflecting the overall community of design and the cohesion of the area of grog-tempered pottery. The zones are: 1 NE Essex. 2 SE Essex. 3 W Kent and the Darent Valley. 4 Medway. 5 E Kent. 6 SE Kent. 7 Hertfordshire and the Chilterns. 8 NW. 9 Cambridge. 1 NE Essex This area includes Colchester, and covers those sites in S Suffolk with native grog-tempering; and the Essex estuaries and rivers as far S as the Crouch. It does not cover (as yet) the Roding Valley of central Essex, where little of pre-conquest date is known, and it does not overlap with the Hertfordshire area, which includes the western boundary of Essex. This lack of overlap may not be valid, but at present the strip covering central Essex is comparatively barren until after AD 43. The fabric is invariably grog-tempered, like Zone 7 but unlike all the others (except for some shell; see below). The range of forms is great, including all the common forms, and their romanised versions also. As in the Hertfordshire zone, the large centre of settlement (Colchester) has the greatest variety, and the largest range of imports. This leads there to early romanisation of the fabric and a range of copies of imports; these two features are not much found in the zone as a whole away from the immediate area of Colchester. At present not enough excavation of Essex settlement of this date has been carried out or published, so there is not the same range of settlement pottery that Zone 7 has. There is the usual strong evidence of local potting: the shapes and fabrics of Ardleigh, for example, are closely matched at Sheepen, while the idiosyncrasies of Boxford (greyness, drooping shoulders, burnished bands, pitted surfaces) are matched at Nacton but not Ardleigh. 8

2 Distinctive forms of Zone 1: the 1st century BC pedestal form A2 is mostly found here, in burials; and in the first century AD the A5 is the main Essex form, not much found elsewhere (except at Great Chesterford in Zone 7). None of the B jar forms show any bias to this zone except B3-3, mostly in the NE corner (and a late form); B5-5 is not found as yet. There is a range of, but no distinctive, C forms, and few C7s, or C8s; as excavations are carried out C8 forms will probably occur. D3-4, with its lid L4, is a local burial form that occurs occasionally elsewhere but with no overlap with this zone; here they are elaborate early burial vessels. Of the E cup forms, the carinated varieties are preferred: El-1, El-2 etc., and the related E2-1, but not so often the plain El-4 version. E3-6 is a local (late) form; F3-3 a N Essex pedestal form. As noted above, there is a wide range of import copies but they are mostly found at Sheepen. Unlike Zone 7 there are no distinctive local versions* of Gl-1 platters; in general a few examples of many varieties of Gl platters is the rule for Zone 1. G4 girth beakers, common in Zone 7, are no more frequent in Essex than other copies of imports. Of the butt-beakers, again the range is wide, of barrel and offset shapes, but the plain G5-4 does not occur. Dating: imports are later than those at Braughing (Zone 7) and none are 1st century BC, apparently. See Lexden and Little Waltham for 1st century BC burial and settlement pottery (Hatfield Peverel may also have some of the latter). The Little Waltham date of c BC for the grog-tempered pots, in incipient 'Belgic' forms, matches that for the same phenomenon at Skeleton Green, Braughing. The occurrence of shell in Zone 1 is in general post-43 (C4 at Colchester; Cl-2 with Roman, Broomfield, Cl-2 unstratified with grog and Roman at Wickham Bishops; similar at Stebbing, post-conquest; C4 and C5-1 at Felsted, with Roman. The shell is used for these coarse ware C forms only). 2 SE Essex i.e. the Thames estuary from the Mar Dyke to Foulness. Here grog is used more normally for burial vessels only; these often have links with the adjoining Zone 1, and many are romanised and late. Pottery on settlement sites is often made with local sand and shell deposits instead. Links with Kent are also apparent: this area is evidently open to potting influences from N and S, and the use of grog is not standard, although settlement is reasonably dense and there is no shortage of discoveries to limit the range of forms. 9

3 Links with Zone 1: A5 pedestal urns (burials; often romanised or in Roman fabrics). B5-1, B5-2, B5-3 (burials). Carinated cups, El-1, E2-1; but some slacker forms in this area also. Links with Kent regions: A3 pedestal urns (burials. Found all over Kent). C4, sometimes in grog, but usually shell in Essex (east Kent form, Zone 5). E2-2 (found all over Kent). The Essex ones are a little different. Decoration of vertical lines burnished on everted necks: this occurs at Orsett, twice (e.g. W. Rodwell 1974, fig.6 no.7), Springhead, Stone, and now from recent excavations on the A13 in south Essex (Zones 2 and 3). The range of forms, general and particular, and of fabrics, is similar to the W Kent region, Zone 3. The settlements at Mucking, Gun Hill, Orsett, etc. have evident links with those in the Darent valley area on the opposite side of the Thames (although see comments on this Zone 3 below). Zone 2 has some of the characteristics of a fringe area: grog-tempered pottery is not as evidently indigenous as it is in Zone 1, for example, and the occurrence of a HM copy of an A5 pedestal urn at Mucking lends some support to the view that at least some of the 'Belgic' pottery was coming from outside the area and not made locally. Local specialities: C5-1 jars, but usually shell-tempered, with L6 to match at Gun Hill, which also has a sandy fabric. The lid-seated jar form C5-1 was distinguished with graffiti in the conquest period and made at Mucking (Jones 1972, with distribution map). F3-5 is an odd local pedestal form: the specimen in the Martin Collection (see Orsett) is Roman, but is only a more exaggerated version of that from the Roots Hall cemetery at Prittlewell. Import copies: not many, but the commonest pre-conquest forms occur (Gl-1, G5-2, G5-3, G5-6). Dating: the burial vessels, that are generally grog-tempered, range from good native pots of large size and probably late 1st century BC date at Rayleigh to larger cemeteries with unassociated but late, romanised or Roman vessels at Canewdon, Prittlewell and Great Wakering. These cemeteries are in the eastern corner of the region. The settlement evidence is largely away from these, on the Thames in the area of Mucking, and grog is not standard. At Gun Hill 'Belgic' pottery was never found without an admixture of Iron Age and Roman; local sources of shell and sand are also used for tempering. Mucking has some burials, but its A5 pedestal urn, as noted above, is a hand-made copy. The Martin Collection may be evidence for some good grog-tempered burial pottery in this area, but it is unprovenanced. 10

4 Note: as more discoveries are made, the boundary of Zone 2 may be found to overlap with Zone 1 in the region of the Blackwater estuary rather than the Crouch. 3 West Kent The Darent valley and the Thames shore at its mouth. Not a great deal of late Iron Age material has been published from this area; recent excavations (e.g. at Farningham) may broaden the picture. The only site with a predominance of good grog-tempered pre-conquest pottery is Stone, which is a cemetery; grog is otherwise not standard. Crayford and Bexley both have a mixture of fabrics; the Crayford site in particular has very little grog. Other sites are post-conquest (Springhead, post-43 site clearance; Fawkham; Farningham) and have the grog-tempered 'Patch Grove ware'. Oldbury is included in this region; it has a mixture of fabrics that overlaps with the Med way zone. Wheel-made 'Belgic' forms are in general confined to the grog-tempering; the local Iron Age forms and fabrics are predominant, and 'Belgic' pottery apparently intrusive, except at Stone. For this reason there are no distinctive local grog-tempered forms or traits. Links with Essex: vertical burnished lines on jar necks (see Zone 2 above). Links with the rest of Kent: the A3 pedestal urn, the standard Kent form. E2-2, an E Kent form. Import copies: are virtually non-existent before the conquest. The G3-3 from Dartford is unstratified and not grog-tempered; Springhead has G5-1 and G5-5, but is post-conquest and connected with a military road. The Farningham site (Calfstock Lane) is post-43 also. The rest of Kent is much more interesting: grog is common, but so are two distinctive Iron Age local fabrics that clearly overlap and interact with the use of grog, themselves being used for wheel-made 'Belgic' forms. These fabrics are greensand, centred on the Maidstone area of the Medway valley (Zone 4), and flint, in Kent east of the Medway (Zone 5). Fig.2 shows their distributions, with a degree of overlapping. 4 The Medway zone There is a much larger body of evidence in this area than to its west, from cemeteries and settlement: it includes Aylesford, which despite its loss of associations undoubtedly has some 1st century BC burials. The Kent greensand fabric is grey with numerous fine and very black inclusions of glauconite from local Greensand beds, and usually with smooth greeny-grey or dark grey surfaces. This material is used for tempering in some Iron Age pottery (handmade Iron Age forms at Bigberry; and occasionally in Essex, as Little Waltham fabric A - Drury 1978, 58: commonest in Period II there 11

5 but lasting into Period IV, 3rd to 1st centuries BC, and noted as identical in analysis to sherds from Mucking, Gun Hill, Oldbury, and Birchington. See Drury's fig.71). In the century before the Roman conquest it was used to make 'Belgic' forms in the central Medway valley area: Allington (cemetery): B3-7, two; Dl-2, E3-5, L2 (HM). Aylesford (cemetery): A3 (four); Al; A4 (two); A8, HM; Bl-1; B2-3, HM; B2-4 (two, one HM); Dl-2 (two); D3-5 (two); El-2; El-3 (two); E3-5; two odd plates of Gl-10 form; and one butt-beaker of G5-4 form. Barming (burial): E3-6. Borden (ditch): B2-1; possible A3. Borough Green: 3 grooved wheel-made sherds. Chart Sutton (burial): B2-4. Detling (ditch): B2-2; G2-1 form of bowl. Faversham (ditch): A4 base sherd. London (?burial): B2-3, HM. Loose (occupation): B2-2 (three); jars of Cl-2 and C2-3 forms, both HM; butt-beaker of G5-4 form. Maidstone (burial): A3; B2-4. Teston (ditch): B2-2. A B (C) D E (G) L (3) (2) 2 3 (four) (2) 1-3(2) 2-1 4(three) 2-2(4) 3-5(2) 5-4(2) 8 2-3(2) (3) 3-7(2) The fabric is strictly contemporary with grog when used for 'Belgic' forms, as it appears in handmade or wheel-made, native or Gallo-Belgic forms. It does not survive the conquest, and it is not found outside its restricted area as shown on the map ( 2). The outliers of Borden (a very interesting site with considerable overlap of potting traditions) and Faversham (one sherd) do not have much of the fabric; the exceptional outlier, the London pot, has circumstances of discovery that remain obscure. The area has few distinct local characteristics apart from this fabric; it does share several traits with east Kent (Zone 5). Dl-2 is a local form otherwise found only in Herts., and in this zone apparently made by a single potter. The elaborate burial forms D3-3 and D3-4 do not occur; and there are very few copies of imports, including platters and butt-beakers. There is no local preference in platter form; there are the two oddities (Gl-10) at Aylesford. The area is rich neither in range of forms nor imports. 5 East Kent This is another area defined by the distribution of an Iron Age fabric, in this case flint gritting, that is found associated 12

6 with, and even used for, 'Belgic' forms at the end of the Iron Age (Map 2). It stretches as far as the E bank of the Medway, and the interface of the three traditions of grog, flint, and greensand can be studied at Borden, in particular. The main centres of occupation in this zone are, however, Canterbury and the Isle of Thanet (apparently then a real island: see Map 3 below, and C. Hawkes 1977, map 8, for the estimated Iron Age coastline). There is also a good deal of grog-tempered pottery and it is often extremely hard, quite distinctively so, especially when used for C forms. The flint tempering is usually in large pieces, calcined and crushed, and deliberately added as a filler to the clay. Due to the harshness of this material the vessels are usually HM, but not always: there are a few wheel-made flint-gritted pots, and it is surprising that there are any at all. Instances of flint associated with grog are as follows (HM unless stated to the contrary; sites with wheel-made examples marked *): Bigberry: HM Iron Age sherds with one or two grog sherds. The flint here is never in 'Belgic' forms. *Birchington: shaft 10 - [1417] is a wheel-made rim with flint grits, with ordinary flint-gritted sherds and much grog-tempered pottery. shaft 11 - flint-gritted sherds, and grog pots, often HM. shaft 30 - many grog-tempered vessels; [1313] and [1323] with flint. Also combed sherds with flint. clifftop - HM B2-1 with grog and flint [1435]; another small bag-shaped pot with same mixture; unstratified with a lot of flint-gritted sherds. Worsfold Coll. - HM, D2-4 with grog and flint. *Borden: [1126], ditch B, HM grog and flint, form C3. [1127], ditch B, wheel-made flint-gritted D3-3. Also mixed debris of flint-gritted and grog sherds. Detling: several very coarse flint-gritted Cl-1 jars, with mixed grog, greensand, and Roman vessels. Faversham: flint-gritted jars in 1st century AD ditches with much grog-tempered pottery: forms Cl-2, C2-3 (two), and C3, all rough HM. Kennington, Duck Farm: tall everted-rim HM jar, flint-gritted, with two HM grog-tempered platter copies, Gl-10, and Gl-11. Loose: coarse HM flinty jar of C2-3 form (no. 17), mixed with unstratified grog, greensand and sandy vessels. *Maidstone, Cherry Orchard Way: flint-gritted wheel-made bowl of G2-3 form, with grog-tempered S3 and a TN platter. Preston: sites 38/39, some flinty sherds, unstratified with mostly grog-tempered pots. Reculver: HM flint-gritted sherds and others described as 'Belgic' combed bead-rim sherds, beneath the late Roman fort.?any grog. *Sittingbourne: wheel-made flint-gritted butt-beaker from Highsted cemetery. 13

7 Note also the HM pinch pot from Allington, no.2 (unassociated), Zone 4; and coarse HM flint-gritted vessels from Lower Hals tow in very late forms, possibly post-43. The 'Belgic' pottery as a whole in this zone is more varied than that of the Medway area. Distinctive local forms and traits include a variety of pedestal on Swarling examples of the A3 form that is quite close to A2; the rare form A10, from Canterbury and Swarling; the tall plain everted-rim jar, Bl-2, mostly here and in Herts.; the wide flaring rim with rippled neck, as in B3-2 and C6-1; Cl-1, in the very hard version of grog (probably surviving so well because of its hardness); C4, hardly found elsewhere; E2-2, very well made and probably early. The plain D3-3 form is found here, but not the cordoned version D3-4. Of import copies, a very common local plate form is Gl-6, late and hardly found elsewhere. There are not many butt-beakers, but there is a range of them, unlike Zone 4, and as elsewhere, usually with offset neck. Elements common to both the Medway and East Kent zones include: a tendency to upright rather than everted rims; A3 cordoned pedestal urns, found all over Kent; Bl-3, rounded and with the upright rim; not many elsewhere; B2-2, also not everted, and quite common; D3-5, an elaborate burial form not found outside Kent; E2-3 quite common here but not elsewhere; F3-4 with hollow base, all in one piece. Common forms not found (so far) include A5; C7-1; C8-1. There is a distinct lack of carinated cup forms, apart from El-2, and the plain El-4 does not occur in the Medway area. Import copies are in general uncommon, with few Gl forms except Gl-6, and almost no G2 or G3 varieties. Dating: the lack of imported pottery, and the loss of associations at the major cemeteries, makes this difficult, as does the complicated nature of the pottery fabrics. Grog is not standard, and considerable interaction is discernible with local Iron Age traditions (see Borden); many of the finer cemetery pots, such as the D3-5 bowls, are presumably of the later 1st century BC, but good stratified material is still lacking. The metalwork from the cemeteries is 1st century BC but its close dating is problematical and cannot help to date particular pottery forms in the present state of knowledge. 6 SE Kent This is separated here from the other Kent zones in its use of sand as a common tempering material. The sites known (especially Deal, Folkestone, and Cheriton) have typical Kent forms (including a D3-5 from Folkestone) but the grog is not predominant. Much of the material is unassociated and mostly from 14

8 burials, and more information is needed to define this zone in more detail. It may extend SW to include Snargate in Romney Marsh, and overlap with the East Sussex sites. 7 Hertfordshire and the Chilterns This is by far the largest area and has the most pottery. It includes concentrations of settlement material at Braughing, Welwyn and Prae Wood/St Albans, forming foci for a wide range of imports and copies, and the greatest variety of native pottery. It seems to include the westernmost part of Essex, and crosses the Chilterns to cover parts of Bucks., Beds., and Cambs.; the Icknield Way runs through the middle of the zone. Grog is almost invariably used, as in Essex, with various degrees of quartz sand natural to the local clay sources. The red-surfaced grog tempering is very common in the 1st century AD, especially for import copies. All the common forms occur, but some are more distinctively local: a late slack version of A2, 1st century AD; otherwise the area has no preferences in pedestal form (but cf. A6); Bl-2, Bl-4 commoner here than elsewhere; B3-6 common here and in Zone 8, not many elsewhere; C5-1 common in Zones 7 and 8, and often shell-tempered; C7 forms are found in their hundreds in this zone and yet hardly at all elsewhere. This is the very commonest coarse ware form. C7-4 is exclusive to Braughing; Dl-2, Bl-4, E3-2: a Hertfordshire tendency to exaggerate the neck; D2-3 is found mostly in Zone 7; El-2 has a sharply angular Herts, version, often well made; E3-7 is found only in Zones 7 and 8; some B3-5 jars are similar, in Zone 7 only; F4 is a rare Zone 7 form. Of the import copies, Gl-1 has an angular Herts, version; Gl-3 is also local; G4 is most common here, especially at Prae Wood; see also Zone 8. Some of the main centres have their own forms: Prae Wood: Bl-6, copying the imported form found in large numbers at Braughing. Usually red-surfaced. D3-2. Gl-4, often red. G4, often red. C5-3: some known in other places, but very common here. 15

9 Braughing: C7-4. Dl-5. Decoration of Dl-1 and Dl-5, often multiple wavy lines. Dating: the Skeleton Green and Gatesbury Track sites at Braughing have early features dated by the earliest imports known in Britain, from c.20 BC, and these cut other features without imports. These earliest features include some HM local Iron Age vessels as well as grog-tempered wheel-made and HM pots, from an estimated date of 30 BC. In consideration of the normal ubiquity of grog-tempering in Zone 7, and the primitive aspect of some of the HM grog-tempered pots in these features, this should indicate that here we are seeing the emergence of 'Belgic' pottery, and it appears to confirm its post-caesarian development. Shell tempering in Zone 7 is not especially noticeable: it is sometimes used instead of grog for coarse forms (Braughing, C6-1; shell- and grog-tempered sherds in Brickwall Hill ditch 1; Roman at Crookhams; Grubs Barn fig. 3 no.l-; Nazeing; Cl-2 at Ambresbury Banks; D2-5 at Puddlehill; C5-1, C6-1 at Sandy; various at Wilbury Hill; similar coarse forms at Prae Wood, C5-1 and C5-2; C5-2 at Abington Pigotts). 8 Northwest This spreads NW from Zone 7, from about Bletchley to Northampton. It is characterised by grog, shell, and mixed grog-and-shell tempering (and other materials derived from local geology, as at Hardingstone); it has a limited range of forms, no large focal centres of settlement, and few cemeteries or burials. The evidence is of much scattered settlement of 1st century AD date, with kilns appearing soon after the conquest. Many of the sites (Northampton, Hardingstone, Stoke Goldington) have little internal evidence of date and rely on local parallels; the unpublished site at Rushden will provide a dating sequence. More evidence is needed to provide a local chronology, but the expansion of pottery production may be related to the presence of the army in the area after the conquest. Bletchley, at the S end, has some overlap with Zone 7 and a wider range of forms; the N end runs into Roman forms and fabrics at, e.g., Irchester and Duston. Unpublished excavations at Odell will also reveal a wider range of forms and the sort of experimentation with the potential of the grog-tempered fabric that occurs in the central areas of its distribution. Thornborough too has some interesting forms. Distinctive forms in Zone 8: Some B3-6, primarily a Zone 7 form; C5-1 and C5-2, usually shell-tempered, made locally in some numbers; E3-2 with the long neck, a Zone 7 form; E3-7, a distinctive form of Zones 7 and 8; G4, very common in Zones 7 and 8, especially with red surfaces; 16

10 El-1, common elsewhere but here very frequent, and often larger, in thin red-surfaced ware. Forms indicative of a late date: Bl-5 and Dl-3, with girth groove; D3-4 here thin and small, unlike the usual thick native version; E2-1, typologically a slack version of El-1 in this area; E3-6, flask; conquest period and later platter forms, quite unlike the Zone 7 forms. Rare and absent forms: Pedestal urns (except Al); Bl forms; B5 forms; C forms except C5 and C6; El and E2 cups except El-1 and E2-1; F pedestalled forms; platters except for Gl-6 and following; G2 and G3 forms; butt-beakers except G5-5; no G6; lids. Examples of shell: C5-1, C5-2: Bletchley, Caldecotte, Felmersham, Milton Keynes, Bromham, Newport Pagnell, Northampton Moulton Park, Odell, Emberton etc. Used as a rule for coarse forms: Hardingstone, Thornborough. C6-1: Milton Keynes, Northampton Moulton Park, Emberton. Mixed with grog, various finer forms: Northampton Camp Hill, and G5-6 at Northampton Moulton Park; Odell; Bromham; Yardley Hastings; Thornborough; Stoke Goldington. 9 Cambridge This is a small fringe zone that is characterised by the use, alongside grog, of a sandy fabric that is fired to a strong orange-black patchy colouring. It is often used for butt-beakers, usually large. Cambridge, Trumpington: large odd butt-beaker, thin and squat. Cambridge, Milton: G5-1 form of butt-beaker, large. Cambridge, Horningsea: large G5-2 form; El-4. Cambridge, Grantchester: butt-beaker sherd. Cambridge, unspecified: B5-3. Hauxton: huge G5-1 form; G5-5 form.?hauxton': B3-8, G5-2. Other sites have vessels that may be in this fabric, but their precise relationship is uncertain: Barrington, Dl-2. Bedford, London Road: no.58, E3-7. Kempston, several, all sandy. These last two sites are in Zone 8, not 9; and there may be some from Great Chesterford, in Zone 7 but geographically close to Zone 9. This area is, like Zone 8, a northern outpost of grog-tempering, and it is not the rule. The excavations of local settlement remain unpublished and the relationship of grog and local fabrics, and the range of forms and possible dating, are unclear. There is no indication of an early date. 17

11 Map 3: Simplified soils map for the central area of 'Belgic' pottery. The approximate GLC boundary is represented by the dot-dash line. 18

12 NOTES TO MAP THREE The soils map is based on the Soil map of England and Wales by B.W. Avery, D.C. Findlay and D. Mackney, Soil Survey, It is slightly simplified, and offers only a generalisation. The area NW of the Chilterns has been omitted: both surface soils and underlying geology are complex. The key is as follows: 1 Alluvium. This indicates those areas under water in the late Iron Age; at the same time, the Isle of Thanet was certainly larger than at present. The sites at Birchington, for example, are no longer on dry land and were rapidly eroded. 2 Shallow chalky soils. This shows the Chiltern scarp, and the Icknield Way, clearly. 3 Various moderate or well-drained loamy soils. A large proportion of late Iron Age sites are on these soils, including the centres of Verulamium, Welwyn, and Camulodunum; the pottery Zone 1 corresponds well with these soils in Essex. 4 Calcareous chalky soils, often with impeded drainage. But settlement certainly did not avoid these areas: Braughing and Baldock are both on such soils. 5 Various clay or loam soils, with impeded drainage. The North Downs Way is outlined. Local geology is varied, and the areas N of the Thames are rather different, and more heavily settled, than those S of it, where the Weald was sparsely occupied. 6 Well-drained loamy soils derived from Cretaceous glauconitic sandstone etc. This includes the central Medway valley and produces the greensand temper of local 'Belgic' pottery, Zone 4. (Based upon the Ordnance Survey map with the permission of the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office. Crown copyright reserved). 19